SC in the way of a great score!

Question

I would appreciate some advice here as I am struggling with SC, despite getting a high ranking on RC and CR. Not sure if they are related.

I walked out of the exam center yesterday, confused about my verbal score. I scored a  V31 , despite seeing very difficult questions towards the end and scoring high 30s in my previous mocks. Anyway, today I looked at the ESR and it made more sense.  My sub-section ranking read: CR-88%, RC-95%, and SC-44%.  I am not a native speaker, but I have studied in English and lived in English-speaking countries for most of my life. However, I was never really a big fan of grammar.

Should I just start again with the basics? I studied Powerscore SC bible and read Manhattan SC. Not sure what to do next, but I really need to make SC a strength!

Thanks in advance.

IanStewart · Answer

I'd be careful about reading too much into ESR breakdowns like that -- they're based on such small samples of questions that you need to imagine a large margin of error around each score. I can't count how many times I've seen someone with an ESR split like 50/70/90 in SC/CR/RC on one test, and then a 90/70/50 on the next, so your SC is probably not as bad as it looks. And in your case, it's almost certainly true that your SC ability is well above the 44th percentile, since you wouldn't likely score in the high V30s on diagnostic tests unless your SC was well above average.

So you might first assess, using additional data, whether SC is truly a weak area, or whether the scores in your ESR are just the result of natural variance. If you have an error log from a batch of official questions, you could compare your hit rates in questions of each type, for example. Or if you have unused official questions, then if you can try 15-20 questions of each type, controlling for question difficulty (if you have an official book, take questions from the middle of each section, for example, since those are likely to be medium to medium-hard), then you could see if there's a dramatic difference in your performance. Or you could look back over official diagnostics you've completed to see if any particular question type is a weakness for you.

In general, if you decide you need to improve at SC (or at CR or RC), it is important to focus on official questions. The quality of official questions is so much higher than that of prep company questions that you can waste a lot of time studying from other material. You'll also develop a clear idea of what genuine GMAT SC questions are testing if you study from official questions, an impression you won't get otherwise -- at the higher level of the GMAT, questions are often not strictly testing grammar rules, and are much more about how to express ideas clearly and precisely, and how to write a sentence that conveys a logical meaning. It sounds like you already have a resource at hand that explains any grammar you'll need, so I think you'll do best just by working through official questions on your own, trying to pick up on frequently tested issues that you find challenging. Then by analyzing those challenging questions in detail, you should be able to pick up what you need to get more questions right on test day. Good luck!

GmatKnightTutor · Answer

Slowly going through the Official questions (quality over quantity) can be helpful. For example, really taking the time to understand what the GMAT prefers and certain rules regarding pronouns and parallelism.

How to get a V40 or higher on the GMAT? What about a V51?

How to get a V40 or higher on the GMAT? What about a V51?

GMATWhizTeam · Answer

Hi ZenJames,

Looking at your individual break up of score, you are surely on the wrong path for verbal preparation.

It’s always better to prepare with a definitive resource to help you learn concepts while formulating a consistent strategy to solve questions before practicing them . This way, your preparation will be a lot more structured, and the chances of you leaving gaps in your learning will be significantly less. Focus on improving the method you follow to solve questions because that's what stops people from scoring 700+. Furthermore, you may find that the MGMAT guides aren’t very helpful as they’re targeted more towards native speakers of English. As such, following a resource which focuses on the right methodologies becomes even more crucial.

Your verbal score clearly indicates there are many conceptual gaps and you may need to start from scratch, revisit the concepts and get a clear understanding of them before you solve the questions. Verbal questions on GMAT are very tricky. Let me help you with the right way to approach your Verbal Prep.

How to Ace your Verbal Prep?  
For GMAT Verbal, it is very important that you follow the  right methodology  and the  logical approach . Your focus has to be on  eliminating four incorrect choices rather than choosing the right one . The key is to develop a solid understanding of the concepts that are typically tested on the GMAT and master the process skills that are required to solve GMAT questions. Only then, you will be able to smartly avoid the traps set by the test makers.

Before you start learning, it's important to understand what is actually tested using the questions. Each module in Verbal (SC, CR and RC) has to be approached in a different way. For example, before you start learning the concepts of SC, you need to understand that SC questions on GMAT test your ability to convey the right meaning without any ambiguity. So, it's important to approach them from a meaning stand-point. You might have often come across answer choices which are both grammatically correct and convey a logical meaning but are indeed incorrect because they do not convey the intended meaning. So, the process to approach SC questions is to:
• Comprehend the original meaning of the sentence
• Identify errors if any (both grammatical and meaning wise)
• Eliminate answer choices which either are grammatically incorrect or do not convey the intended meaning

You can go through the link below to understand the process in a better way:
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SGA8bwFNJM

I’d recommend you to  follow this order for the verbal part - SC->CR->RC . The reason for this is very specific. Each question type on the GMAT is testing a specific skill. SC tests your comprehension skills. CR tests comprehension & analytical skills. Finally, RC builds on the previous two skills and also tests your ability to be able to grasp the central point of the passage i.e. Your inferential skills. Thus, when you learn in this order, it's much more effective.

The importance of using a standard resource:  
The only method to make sure that you invest your time, money and effort in an effective way is to use a standard resource which teaches you the concepts, strategies and also helps you work on your weaker areas. Studying using OG or a few random resources might help you to solve GMAT like questions but I’m afraid that they won’t be able to help you much from a strategy perspective.

I would suggest you to go for some standard course for your preparation which can help you prepare in a structured and efficient manner thereby increasing your productivity. It’s always better to spare some more time on your preparation until you are ready instead of missing out on your dream colleges/ b-schools in hurry.

You can check out how Hardik, a non native speaker, scored a V44 and get some success tips from his journey:
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=an6pE6IlOV0

Having said that, I would like to have a one-on-one conversation with you. The discussion would be mostly around the approximate time you have for the next attempt and the plan of action. If you have an ESR with you, that will be even more helpful to get the insights about your performance. You use use the link below to schedule a call with me.

Click here to schedule a call

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SC in the way of a great score!

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